Chapter 91
Chapter 91
I was shocked to find Kevin in Bryxton. Right then, I recalled how he called me that morning. Did
something happen to Shawn? Kevin wouldn''t be here if something happened to Shawn, right? "So, you
still remember my name, huh?" Kevin stepped forward to pat me on my head in a rather intimate
manner. However, I had only met him once—I wouldn''t say I was that close to him.
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I therefore responded with an awkwardugh while Kevin began to question me in an inquisitive tone.
"I saw the video online. Tsk, tsk. Myra, you sure mingle around with a lot of men. Are you trying to
infuriate Shawn?" hemented. This had got nothing to do with Shawn, and he had no right to be
angry at me. However, I felt troubled as it seemed like my private matters were being spread out across
the table for everyone to discuss openly. Who are they to do this?!
"What has this got to do with Shawn?" I asked. However, Kevin wasn''t listening to me at all—he was
teasing me with a yful look on his face. "I used to love you so, so much—just the sound of your
name used to send tingles down my spine. I would''ve jumped in front of a car for you! I still feel
nervous even as I look at you now!" he uttered. "Tsk, tsk. You sounded so sincere when you said all of
that. This means that you were still messing around with another man just two months ago. What a
yer! I wonder what Shawn is thinking now. He probably wants to strangle you at this point," Kevin
commented.
The fact that Kevin could recite every single word I had utteredst night had already felt like a stab in
my heart. Kevin made it even worse by bringing Shawn up. Kevin was really poking all of my sore
spots. "Kevin!" I shouted.
When he saw that I was angry, he stopped teasing me and got to the main topic instead. "Here''s the
serious news. I dropped by to pass you some contracts."
"What contracts?" I was puzzled.
"They''re from Xenos Solutions," Kevin uttered. Why do the Xenos want to sign a contract with the
Felixs? "Did Shawn tell you to bring this to me?" I asked again.
"Why are you calling him by his first name?!" Kevin shot me a side re.
I was speechless. Aren''t names meant to be called? I ignored him, and he continued to talk after that.
"He didn''t directly tell me to hand you any contracts, but he did mention something about the fall of your
company''s shares. He mentioned that you guys would need some new names to boost the value of
your shares, so we figured that Xenos Solutions could help you out by handing you a few contracts.
Shawn simply nodded in response to that, so I assumed that he''s willing to form a partnership with you
guys! Are you grateful that you''ve got me, Myra?" Kevin was clearly waiting for me to praise him. He
hadpletely treated me like his own family member, and I was grateful for that, but I genuinely didn''t
need the Xenos Solutions'' contracts right then.
I had decided that there were certain things I had to deal with on my own. "Thank you, Kevin. However,
I''ve decided to deal with the Felixs'' matters on my own. I trust that everything will get better in the
future. I have some skills too, you know?" I rejected Kevin''s offer in a gentle manner. I was only 14
when I took over the business, and I had been through so much on my own. I knew that I was able to
confront matters alone this time.
"Did you just decline our offer?" Kevin was dumbfounded.
I told him my concerns. "Look, Kevin. Now, the whole world knows that Shawn was the one who carried
me away. If I engage in any partnerships with Xenos Solutions now, I''d have to rely on Shawn for the
rest of my life!" There''d be no equality and nopetition if all of the Xenos'' resources were avable
to me. This wasn''t helpful for the growth of thepany. Furthermore, in the long run, the public would
eventually perceive Felix Corporation as a subunit in Xenos Solution. That wasn''t what I wanted.
Upon hearing my words, Kevin stared at me as if I was a hidden gem. "You sure know what''s going on,
Myra! To be honest, there were a few simrlyrgepanies who had asked for Xenos Solutions''
help with forming partnerships. Do you want to guess what happened to them?"
"What?" she asked.
"Thepanies who lived beneath the glowing light of the Xenos Solutions were eventually devoured
by ourpany. The Xenos Family has the power to fight an army and stop the chaos in the outside
world. We can practically protect anyone who needs it," Kevin uttered. The Xenos Family means
Shawn. I didn''t know he was so capable. But why did he always get injured?
I was about to part my lips to ask this question, but Kevin let out a smirk before answering me. "He
likes taking risks on his own."
I was speechless. Is he getting all these injuries just for the pure purpose of enjoyment? He must be
sick in the head! "Is he a masochist?" I asked after.
Kevin let out a heartyugh. "You''re dead meat! No one ever says that about Shawn. I''m going to tell
him about it when I get back."
I was speechless once more. Kevin''s about to reach his twenties—why is he still so childish? I couldn''t
be bothered to talk to him. Eventually, he brought the contracts away and left Bryxton. He came and left
in such a rush. He probably had nothing better to do!
By the time his figure was gone, I returned to thepany to find people from the public rtions
department brainstorming about ways to resolve this matter. They wereing up with extremely
official and formal ideas that theizens on Twitter would never fall for. I frowned before entering my
office. Later that afternoon, my assistant told me that the Felixs'' shares had dropped another 2%. That
was 400 million.
Since the whole incident had just urred today, it would take one day for things to settle before the
shares would plummet again the next day. I had to find a way to save the Felix Corporation. Previously,
Nichs had spent some money to hide all the videos of Merlin and I kissing—the Felixs'' shares didn''t
seem to drop much during then. Following that incident was the video of me kneeling in front of the
church doors and throwing my pride away. This caused a 5% fall—about 1 billion in market shares.
After this huge gossip between Christopher and I, the shares had already seen a 2% drop on the same
day itself. I couldn''t imagine what things would look like the next day.
The Felix Family was going to struggle under such huge pressure. Once the Felix Family was visibly
drained, the other families who had resented us for long would start taking action. Furthermore,
Nichs had taken a lot from my family after our three-year-marriage. The Felix Family was in danger
this time. I felt extremely anxious, especially after Chairman Forger gave me a call in the evening. He
wanted to meet immediately.
The entire business industry was aware of my return to Bryxton even before I entered my office that
morning, so it was no secret. I had intended toe up with some excuse to reject the man, but
Chairman Forger didn''t seem ready to take no for an answer. "I''m at the coffee ce below your office,
Renee."
He was a senior, and he hade all the way to visit, so I''d be rude and shameless if I still insisted on
rejecting him! "I''ll be there," I finally replied after giving it some thought. I knew Chairman Forger well.
He was a father who always spoke up for Nichs, and a father-inw who would often be there to
comfort me. He was a really good father-inw. Oh, perhaps I should call him my ex-father-inw.
After a while, I headed downstairs to find that Chairman Forger had already made a new pot of tea. He
gestured for me to sit down when he saw me. After sitting down, I took a nce at the gloomy skies
outside. "I don''t think Bryxton has ever had a single sunny day."
He followed my gaze and looked out the window before sighing. "Yeah. This city has been the same for
the past 60 years of my life," he replied. Bryxton was a gloomy and cold ce, just like my broken
heart. I figured that I wasn''t suited to stay in this ce.
I narrowed my eyes as I noticed a handsome man standing by the edge of the road. "Are you helping
him with this?" I asked. Is he trying to help Nichs to ask me out? Chairman Forger shot an
exasperated nce at Nichs, who was smoking a cigarette by the side of the road. "He was the one
who insisted on following. He has made too many mistakes, Renee. I can''t ask for your forgiveness,
nor can I ask you to give him another chance. I just… I wish you guys could be happy together, but I
understand that some things can''t be forced, so I don''t want to talk about Nichs anymore. Everything
depends on your own decision, Renee," he uttered.
I stared at the old man dumbfoundedly. I hadn''t expected him to say such a thing—he waspletely
different from the man I used to know! I clutched onto my teacup as I made an interpretation of his
words. "Don''t worry. I won''t show up in the Forger Family with this infertile body of mine."
"That''s not what I meant!" The chairman hastily rified his words. "I''ve never thought that infertility
was a problem..." He paused for a moment, whereupon I looked up to meet his gaze. "Then, did you
come here just to utter those words offort?"
My voice was calm, and the chairman seemed rather stunned by this. "I actually came because of my
other son, Christopher. I''d like to talk to you about him," the man said honestly.
He called Christopher his son. All of a sudden, I realized that he had shown up in the role of a father
that day, and I could already guess what he was going to say. How brutal!
"You saw the video?" I asked.
"Yeah. I was shocked," Chairman Forger took a sip of his tea to calm himself down before continuing. "I
wouldn''t be as surprised if Nick had uttered those words since he''s a more emotional man, but
Christopher…" He termed one child by a nickname and the other child by his full name—even a blind
man could tell who the chairman was biased toward.
I lowered my gaze and sipped on my tea for a while as the man continued speaking. "That son of mine
is quiet and reserved—he has nevermunicated with me in the past. I sometimes feel like Nichs
was my only son! But after seeing that video of him asking you how you could bear to give up on him…
I felt my heart hurting for Christopher, Renee. I don''t want to see him like that," he uttered.
"What are you trying to tell me?" I asked the chairman.
"I don''t want you to destroy him," he replied.
I was speechless. Being with Nichs would mean that we could live happily ever after while being
with Christopher would mean that I was destroying him. I wasn''t sure if I couldprehend the
chairman''s logic. "Please don''t agree to his request," the chairman begged. He wants me to say no to
Christopher… Who is he to tell me what to do?
I got out of my seat and left the store abruptly. When I saw Nichs, who had been waiting by the side
of the road, I didn''t know how to respond to him. I ended up spreading my mouth into a grin. "Don''t
talk," I ordered him.
Nichs was dressed in a ck, short-sleeved shirt, which was a rare sight. His fringey obediently
on his forehead as he gazed at me. "I don''t want to listen to any exnation, nor do I ever want to be
involved with you again. Congrattions. You''ll eventually get married to a healthy wife and have a
child."
Nichs parted his lips, as if he were about to say something, but he kept quiet in the end. I walked
past him and returned to thepany. As I looked down from my office more than ten floors above, I
could still see him standing there.
That night, Quinn gave me a call, but I blocked her number without picking the call up. I didn''t know
how to face her yet, so I decided to block her out and deal with the Felix Family''s matters before
thinking about her. The moment I blocked her number, I realized how I had turned into a decisive
woman. I could follow my heart without any hesitation at all. I stayed in the office and headed home
only after I saw that Nichs had left his spot. When I stepped out of the building, a cold and soothing
breeze greeted me.
The weather was cooling, so I decided to walk home. On the way back, I bought some flowers. I had
intended to buy roses, but the stalls didn''t sell any of them, so I picked a few other flowers before
heading home. On the way back, I realized a pair of footsteps following behind me. The footsteps got
closer and closer, and I eventually turned around with a smile on my face. "What are you doing here?"
The person''s face was just like Nichs'', but I could immediately tell the difference between the two of
them. "It''s toote. I''m walking you home," Christopher replied with a slight smile.
I took a nce at the main road. "It''s not dangerous here," I replied.
"Sure. Just keep walking." Christopher''s only intention seemed to be walking me home—he didn''t look
like he wanted to say anything else. So, I turned back to the front and continued walking toward my
residential area. The footsteps behind me were quiet, and I speed-walked into my condominium without
bidding goodbye to him on the way up. I dumped my flowers and headed over to my window.
Christopher was still standing at my front entrance, and he stayed there for about five minutes before
he left.
What he was doing now reminded me of how I was like five years ago. Now, it was his turn to tag along
behind me. It seemed like Christopher could find me wherever I was—it was like he could appear in
front of my face whenever he wanted to. I recalled what he said about traveling the world and meeting
influential people, and I realized how he might be more powerful than I thought, even without inheriting
anything from the Forger Family.
I turned around and picked up the flowers before looking for a vase to stick them in. After washing up
and taking my medication, Iy down on the bed, just in time to receive a text from Olivia. ''I''ve never
seen anyone like him,'' the text said. She was referring to Christopher. Christopher was the only person
we talked about, and most of our conversations were one-sided.
I was certain that everyone who had seen the video must have heard what he had said. "I came to look
for you here nine years ago," he had said. Christopher and I were truly not fated for one another.
I shoved my regrets aside and logged in to my Twitter ount before tapping into the trending topic,
''Street Where Wind Resides''. Many of theizens seemed sad in the threads—they were all sad after
listening to the song. I doubted if thoseizens actually understood the meaning of the song—most of
them were probably just following the trend and feeling sad for no reason.
I scrolled through somements to see a great number of them cursing at me. I had no idea what
they were thinking—they probably had nothing better to do. I hadn''t found a solution to the situation at
that point, but I knew that I had to find it before the sun rose. My public rtions department was still
working right then.
I exited the application and thought about it for a while before replying to Olivia''s text. ''It was the first
time I''ve seen him act like this, Olivia. It wasn''t what I hoped for.''
Ideally, I would prefer Christopher to stay the way he did in the past, back when he had never appeared
in my life. I found it hard to face him right then. ''I''m really envious of you,'' Olivia replied. Her text left me
speechless—I didn''t know how to respond to her. It felt like I would be pretentious no matter how I
structured my reply. I was the one who won Christopher over, after all.
''I can''t afford to be with him,'' I replied after a long while. Ultimately, Olivia couldn''t understand the
distance between Christopher and I. We were too far apart to ever arrive on the other person''s end of
things. ''You have to be brave sometimes, Renee,'' Olivia texted.
Sure, I have to be brave sometimes. But sometimes, I don''t even have the chance to be brave. I have
so many things on my te, and Nichs… I just don''t want to date anymore. I want to set myself free.
Anyway, it''s rather odd for Olivia to convince me to be with Christopher. ''Let''s stop talking about him,'' I
replied eventually.
Oliva didn''t reply after that. If she understood what I meant, she probably knew that I didn''t want to talk
about Christopher anymore. I exited my WhatsApp and hesitated for a long while before calling Shawn.
However, the line was busy. Right as I was about to end the call in disappointment, I heard a husky
voiceing from the other end of the line. "Mhmm?" he mumbled. For some reason, I feltforted
just by his voice.
"Shawn," I cried. He didn''t respond. Kevin told me that Shawn had seen the video, and I felt utterly
helpless after that. After what happened with the Felix Family and all my rtionship issues, I could no
longer hold myself back from talking to him. "I''m not a flirtatious woman. I just ended up loving the
wrong person… I was in too deep by the time I realized it," I cried.
"What are you trying to say?" he asked coldly. He was really like a heartless robot. He didn''t care about
my matters, and he didn''t even know how tofort me at a time like this. "It''s nothing much," I finally
replied.
"Myra," he called out abruptly.
"What?" I whispered.
His icy voice came from the other end of the call. "No matter what happens, this is all part of life. It
doesn''t matter if this brings you joy or suffering—you''ll have to face it and experience it on your own,"
he said.
How did he turn into such a thoughtful listener all of a sudden? I pressed my lips together as I listened
to him talk. "The outside world is a harsh andplicated ce. Regardless of how tough it may be,
you''ll have to try to handle it on your own. So, you don''t have to tell me anything because I won''t
comfort you at all. However, I want you to be clear about this—no matter what happens, no matter how
pathetic, in, or useless you may seem, I will always be protecting you from my end."
"Shawn…" I mumbled. I had never expected someone as quiet as him to utter so many words in one
go. Everything that he said seemed to soothe all the anxiety that I felt within me. But that one sentence
iming that he wouldn''tfort me was truly a heartless killer!
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Thank you," I said.
"No worries," he uttered coldly. He was truly the one person who treated me the best. I quietly made a
decision before pulling my phone out and opening my Twitter application. There were a lot of things I
wanted to write about, but I had to organize my thoughts. I wrote the title, ''Renee''s Nine Years''.
These nine years felt both long and short at the same time. The toughest part of it was my three years
of marriage with Nichs, especially in the recent months. I felt like my life was threatened at one
point. ir saved me the first time, and Shawn saved me the second time. ir saved me because I
was family, while Shawn… For some reason, I felt safe when I thought about that cold and heartless
man. It seemed like I had found strength through the support he gave me.
…
I may have to confront the harsh reality on my own, but at least I know that Shawn will be there no
matter what happens to me. Just that thought itself gave me an unreasonable amount of joy. Oh,
Shawn, I''ve never felt so lucky until I met you.
In the past, I had never paid much attention to Shawn''s existence in my life. I felt like I was just
enjoying his unconditional care. After that, I lowered my phone and pulled out a piece of white paper
before writing threerge words in a cursive font.
''Renee''s Nine Years.''